


The Accidental Date

by monaboyd_archivist



Category: The Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: Fluff, Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-04-16
Updated: 2004-04-16
Packaged: 2018-08-07 15:50:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7720696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monaboyd_archivist/pseuds/monaboyd_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Billy attempts to cheer Dom up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Accidental Date

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Shirasade: this story was originally archived at the [Monaboyd.net Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Monaboyd.net), which was closed in September 2014 due to software issues and a lack of new submissions for several years. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in October 2014. I e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this author, please contact me using the e-mail address on the [Monaboyd.net Archive collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Monaboyd_Archive/profile).

Dom's been depressed lately. And Billy hasn't been able to help but notice. Dom's been depressed and when Dom's depressed, everything changes. Suddenly, Billy doesn't have anyone to talk to in the long moment in between scenes or anyone to eat lunch with. He doesn't have someone to complain with in the boring process of Feet and there's no one to take the piss out of at a pub or to crash on the sofa with after a long day of filming with a six-pack and Chinese takeout in tow.

Suddenly, it seems that Billy's lost his best friend.

And it worries Billy to see Dom so quiet and withdrawn, to call him on the rare day off and get the answerphone and to *know* that Dom is probably curled up in bed, the shades drawn, listening to Billy's awkward message of, "Hey Dom. It's, um, Billy and er...ah...just call me back when you get a chance. Yeah. Okay. Er. Bye."

It worries Billy to see the defeated look in Dom's eyes and the low mumble of, "What's the point?" and the dejected shuffling towards his trailer rather than take a confrontation. Dom never backs down, Billy thinks, watching him, his head hung low and his hands shoved into his pockets. Dom never admits he's wrong.

It worries Billy that Dom doesn't want to go out anymore, that all he wants to do is stay home. That he won't answer his phone, that he won't let Billy in and that he won't go to Billy. It worries Billy that Dom barely eats anymore and that he sleeps when he's not working, but the circles under his eyes are only getting bigger.

And the more worried Billy gets, the angrier he becomes. This isn't fair, this isn't right. Dom hasn't any reason to be so depressed. Dom hasn't any reason to make Billy so worried. Dom hasn't any reason to tangle Billy up and make him fret and to make him lay awake late at night in his bed, wondering and worrying if Dom is doing the same.

Dom, Billy decides, is being a child and it's beginning to piss him off.

It's time to do something about it.

\---

There's a loud obnoxious banging on Dom's door and Dom shoots a deadly glare at it from his position on the couch where he's curled up in a blanket, watching some sort of a game show. Maybe, Dom thinks, maybe if I don't answer it, whoever it is will go away. Hopeful, Dom buries down into the warm cocoon of his blanket and turns up the volume a bit. Some short woman with round legs has just won twelve hundred pounds. Dom sticks his tongue out at her.

The banging's stopped and Dom is pleased. He doesn't feel like dealing with whoever it was. He doesn't feel like dealing with anyone lately.

Dom is shocked out of his pleased reverie by a blur of movement that suddenly whizzes through his flat, sandy hair and worn blue flannel shirt and rumple jeans and a thick Scottish burr rolled into a continuous blur of sound and motion and color. Dom gapes as Billy storms into his kitchen groans in dismay at the mess and frantically scrubs at the kettle before slamming it onto the stove.

"Hey-," Dom starts to object, but Billy shoots him a truly terrifying look and Dom is chastised into silence, watching meekly as Billy rinses out two cups and sets them tenderly on the table and then promptly fills the sink with warm soapy water.

Dom watches, amused, as Billy gives the finicky performance of rolling up his sleeves and searching under the sink, presumably for rubber gloves, before sighing and wrinkling his nose at the task before him. And then plunges his arms into the water and begins to do Dom's washing up.

By the time the kettle gives its piercing shriek, Billy's finished the dishes and is wiping off the counters with a lemon scented cleaner Dom didn't know he owned. Dom is still sat on the couch, rolled up in the blanket, staring, completely bewildered and completely shocked.

Billy then does his whirlwind act into the living room, stuffs a cup of tea into Dom's surprised hands and then moves over to the window. Dom is terrified of what might come next, Billy might crawl out of the window and try to wash the fire escape or something - but no, Billy's only lifting the blinds. Dom groans as an onslaught of sunlight attacks him.

And then, suddenly, the television is off and Billy's stood in front of it, his arms crossed over his chest and he's glaring down, dangerously, at Dom, breathing heavily.

"Hey. I was watching that," Dom says obstinately.

"Drink your bloody tea," Billy growls out at him.

And because Billy is being quite scary, Dom does so, staring up at Billy with big eyes and tries his best to look meek, innocent, and unassuming.

When Dom's finished his tea and eaten the biscuits Billy suddenly thrust under his nose, Billy announces his reason for his scariness. "You. Need. To. Get. Over. It."

"Eh?" Dom squints at Billy. "I don't think I quite follow you mate."

"Whatever the fuck has got your knickers in a twist - get over it."

"They're not in a twist."

"What?"

"My knickers. They're not in a twist."

Billy sighs. "It's a figure of spee-,"

Dom interrupts. "Because I don't wear any." And then he very nearly blushes at the look Billy gives him, he can actually *feel* the back of his neck heating up and he scrunches further down under the blanket, hoping that he'll suddenly become invisible.

Billy is pacing the length of the living room, looking rather ridiculous while doing so, because it takes him about five steps either way to do it. "Dom. I don't know what's wrong with you."

"Nothing's wrong."

"Yes. There *is*. You don't talk to anyone, you hardly eat, you won't answer the phone or the door or go out anymore, you sit at home and watch bloody *game* shows...Christ, Dom, you're falling apart."

Dom jerks his head up to shout that Billy's got it all wrong and had best butt out of his business, but the look in Billy's eyes freezes him. Billy's really concerned for him, his eyes are worried, his teeth are worrying his lower lip...Billy's been frantic over him. Billy's truly been *afraid*.

And Dom is touched and in the end, he doesn't say anything, only sighs quietly and looks away.

Immediately, Billy is sitting by his side, his knee pressed up against Dom's and his voice emphatic as he says, "Dom. Tell me if something's wrong, I'll do my best to fix it."

"It's not...it's nothing Billy, it's not something fixable. I'm...I'm just not happy lately. I don't know if it's I'm homesick or if I'm ill or if it's just that I'm bored, but...I don't know. I haven't felt completely right." Billy is still looking worried. Dom gives a half-smile. "Bill. I'm not suicidal."

"I don't care. Why don't you talk to anyone when you feel this low? It's not healthy to be...like this!" Billy gestures wildly to the mess of the flat he's in.

Dom shrugs. "I like being by myself, Billy."

Billy is quiet for a moment, considering this. And then suddenly he's on his feet. "Come on Dommie."

"Eh?" Dom's lost again.

"We're going out."

\---

"Where are we going?" Dom asks as he trails Billy like a well-trained puppy.

"You'll see."

Fifteen minutes later, Dom is sat in the cool darkness of a movie theatre, a bucket of popcorn in his lap, a soda at his elbow and feeling extremely ridiculous. "Billy, if I wanted to see a movie, I'd-,"

"Shh." Billy frowns at him. "It's about to begin."

Dom smiles sheepishly and sinks down in his seat, propping his feet up on the empty seat in front of him and stuffing a handful of popcorn into his mouth. He crunches down happily and is glad that Billy made him do this as the salty buttery taste assaults his mouth and the opening credits flicker across the screen. He's been so busy making a movie; he's nearly forgotten how to enjoy one.

The movie is one Dom's never seen or heard of before, a comedy that starts him laughing from the opening scene, tears in his eyes and his stomach sore from doubling over with laughter. Next to him, Billy is smiling and chuckling softly. Billy's always quieter than Dom.

But as the movie wears on, Dom grows increasingly aware of the fact that Billy's not smiling at the screen so much as is he at Dom's enjoyment of it. Dom can't decide if it's a self-congratulatory smile of making a good choice or it's something else.

But Dom can't imagine what that something else would be and chooses instead to lose himself in the movie and to ignore the fact that every time he reaches for a handful of popcorn, Billy's hand is in his way.

Not that there's anything there to think about.

Dom's not stupid, this isn't a date, they're not two thirteen year olds, and this isn't a cheesy made-for-TV film in which the main characters accidentally-on-purpose end up holding hands by way of the popcorn. It's just Billy and he and Billy are best friends and it makes sense they'd both feel the urge for popcorn at the same time and anyway, if Dom wanted to become a cliché, he'd choose something better than oily buttery hand-holding.

Exactly why Dom is able to lose himself in the movie so easily. Because there's nothing there to think about.

\---

Dom is extraordinarily animated when he comes out of the theatre, his face glowing and his hands waving about wildly as he re-enacts some of his favorite scenes.

Billy watches him intently, a slight hint of worry still pulling at the corners of his mouth. Dom frowns at him, "You okay Bill? I thought you liked it."

"I liked it."

Billy's face relaxes into a smile and Dom beams and adds excitedly, "What about when the guy was in the car and he..." Dom trails off as Billy's eyes meet his. "You're staring at me," he says, deflated, and turns his face away from Billy's gaze.

"We're not through,” Billy says abruptly.

"Oh?"

"Oh." Billy nods at him. "Let's go somewhere else."

\---

"What do you think of this one?" Dom pouts his lips, lowers his eyelashes and saunters down the aisle toward Billy. He's got a purple-dyed straw hat with a bright pink flower on, tilted rakishly over one eye and he's cracking Billy up as he sashays up to him and says a low, sexy purr of a voice, "What *do* Scots wear under their kilts, love?" He bats his eyelashes at Billy and mimes hiking up a skirt to flash a little thigh.

Billy snorts at this. "One of my Gran's friends had a hat like that. You're defiling her sacred memory, you twat."

"Mmm, you know you liked it." Dom flutters his eyes at Billy. "I bet Gran's friend just *loved* you. Probably pinched your ickle cheeks and asked you how school was, told your Gran you were an upstanding fine young gentleman and then pinched your arse when you turned your back to her." Billy's eyes widen and Dom giggles, suddenly spinning around and leaping away from Billy. He trades in the purple hat for a yellow baseball cap made out of a satiny fabric and puts it on backwards.

"Backwards," Billy observes.

"Yes, give me a rebellious air. I don't conform to the system, I don't wear their stupid hats the proper way, I put 'em on any old way I want and I don't give a shit about what they think of me or my hat...it's quite sexy, really."

"Sexy?"

"Yes, extremely sexy." Dom turns around from where he's been fiddling with the hat in a mirror to face Billy. "Don't you have the urge to drag me into a darkened corner and ravish me?"

Billy arches an eyebrow at him. "With that hat?"

"With my dead sexy hat. I think I'll buy it." Dom turns around again and pulls the hat off his head. Billy can't entirely hide the smile that springs up at the sight of Dom's hair, flattened on one side and spiked on the other, the deadly effect of trying on too many hats.

Billy waits patiently in the doorway while Dom makes his purchase. He's not paying attention to Dom at the register though, and when Dom appears in front of him, he's smiling widely and mischievously. Billy narrows his eyes at Dom. "What'd you buy?"

"My hat. Durr." Dom rolls his eyes and takes off down the street and after a moment, Billy's forced to run after him. Just when he gets close to Dom, close enough to reach out and touch him, Dom speeds up, giggling madly at Billy's curses and loud irregular breathing as he desperately tries to keep up with Dom.

And then, suddenly, they're plunged into a huge crowd and when Billy finally wrestles his way through it, he realizes he's lost Dom. Billy's stomach plummets to his feet and he turns around in a circle anxiously, hesitantly calling out Dom's name when he fails to catch a glimpse of him.

Enough time passes that a cold sweat dampens Billy's palms and his heart begins to pound with fear and he's starting to become seriously worried when Dom shows up again. He shows up, grinning wildly, and before Billy even has time to register his presence, Dom flings himself at Billy, knocking them both to the ground.

Billy groans under Dom's weight and shoves at him weakly. "Off. Please," he wheezes.

Dom rolls off of him and sits up happily, his shopping bag clutched between his hands. The crowd continues to mill around them, completely oblivious to two men sitting on the ground in the middle of the pavement. Billy shakes his head at Dom. "You scared the shit out of me," he says and Dom opens his mouth to make a flippant remark when he realizes that Billy is serious.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly, sincerely and then gracefully, reaches into the bag, pulls out a purple-dyed straw hat with a pink flower on it, and sets it down on Billy's head in one fluid motion. They sit there, looking at each other for a moment and then Dom smiles sweetly and leans forward to pinch Billy's cheeks. "My ickle darling Billy-kins. I am truly sorry." And then Dom leaps to his feet, shouting with laughter.

Billy's faster this time, though, and he's able to keep up with Dom, one hand crushing the ridiculous hat to his head as he runs alongside Dom, skidding to a halt as Dom does an about-face and stares worshipfully up at a new shop. "Ice cream?" Dom asks and without waiting for an answer, enters the shop.

Billy follows him, accepts the strawberry cone Dom's already ordered for him because Dom always know what ice cream Billy wants and when Dom gets up to get more napkins, Billy can't resist a surreptitious pinch of the arse.

\---

"It's eight o'clock,” Billy whines as he watches Dom die for the millionth time. "Aren't you ready to go yet?"

Dom frowns ferociously. "I need more change. I want to win."

"I don't have any left."

"Me either." Dom bites down on his lower lip, chews it, and then sighs. He glares at the video game machine, kicks it and says threateningly to it, "Until we meet again." And then he holds his head high, ignores the stares of the teenagers and children all crowded around, waiting for a go on the machine he's monopolized for the past two hours, and marches out of the arcade. Once out, he takes a deep breath of the crisp evening air and shoots Billy an askance look. "Home?" he asks.

Billy looks at him quickly and then glances away. "I'm going for dinner," he says nonchalantly.

"Alone?"

"Possibly."

"Want company?"

"Are you inviting yourself?"

"Are you inviting me?" Their eyes meet and Dom grins at Billy and it's perfectly natural for Billy to laugh and smile back because this is how it's supposed to be. Billy and Dom, smiling and laughing together, not Billy laying awake at night worried about Dom and Dom alone and depressed in his pigsty of a home.

"What shall we have then?" Billy asks.

Dom shrugs. "I don’t know. What do you feel like?"

"I dunno. What do *you* feel like."

"Whatever you feel like having."

"I feel like having what *you* feel like having." There's a long pause and Billy worries they're about to argue and he's terrified it might send Dom back to sulking beneath blankets again when Dom suddenly beams and decides that they'll simply walk into the first restaurant that appeals to them both.

Dom starts to hum happily as he walks alongside Billy, his hands swinging back and forth at his sides, and Billy notices for the first time, how easy it would be to lock his hand with Dom's and fall into that rhythm too.

\---

They're standing awkwardly outside Dom's flat after dinner. Billy doesn't know why he suddenly felt that he needed to see Dom up. Dom doesn't know why he feels that he can't ask Billy in. They shift their weight around, mutter that yeah, this was fun and that maybe they should do it again and then suddenly...

This feels like a date, Billy thinks, his eyes widening.

This is like a date, Dom thinks, and his eyes go wide as they meet Billy's.

They're quiet for another long awkward minute, unsure of who says good night first now.

This is stupid, Dom thinks and leans forward and hisses in Billy's ear, "Is this a date then?"

"What?" Billy takes a step away from Dom, looking slightly horrified and slightly confused. "Is this a *what*?"

Dom's sorry he said anything but he can't back up now so he goes on boldly, "Have we just had a first date, Billy?"

"I don't know," Billy says helplessly. "I didn't mean it to be a date..."

"You took me to a movie."

"You bought me a hat."

"You bought me dinner."

"You bought me ice cream."

Dom frowns at this. "It sounds like a date."

"But is it?" Billy smiles hesitantly and glances over at Dom. He's glad to see Dom's smiling too and knowing this makes it easier for Billy to ask, "Do you want it to be a date?"

He can tell Dom is actually considering this and just at the moment Billy considers turning tail and fleeing, Dom says, "Yeah. But only if you want it to be."

Billy takes a half-second to register what Dom's said and then blurts out, "I want it to be." And then he stares down at the floor and prays that he's not blushing too noticeably.

"If it's a date, then I think you should kiss me good night."

Billy looks up again and there's Dom, standing in front of his door, a small, almost shy smile on his lips and his new hat clutched tightly in his hands. And he wonders why he's never seen Dom like this before and when he leans in to kiss Dom, he wonders why he's never done this before because he's sure he's never had a better kiss than this first one with Dom.

When the kiss is over, Dom steps back and says sternly, "I never put out on the first date."

"What if I put on the dead sexy yellow hat?"

Dom looks at though he's considering it and then, sadly, shakes his head. "Nope." And he grins and says, "Good night Billy."

"Good night Dom." And Billy stands in Dom's hallway for a long moment or two after Dom disappears inside, grinning like a fool. And he knows that Dom's standing on the opposite side of the door, smiling in the same way.

Billy hums happily to himself as he slowly makes his way to the elevator, replaying these last five minutes with Dom over and over again in his head. And he remembers the look in Dom's eyes when he said good night and smiles to himself as he steps into the elevator. That light in Dom's eyes, the light he'd been trying to put in it all day, was back, shining out at Billy like it should have been all along. Dom was back to his old self and that was all Billy had ever wanted this day to bring about.

But the accidental date, that had been quite nice too, and Billy laughed to himself as he tucked that away in his memory to tell Dom tomorrow.

He quite liked that, the accidental date.

It would make for an interesting story one day.

::End::


End file.
